About

Essen, Germany

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The Old Synagogue (Alte Synagoge) is a cultural meeting center and memorial in the city of Essen in West Germany. It is located in the center of the city on Steeler Straße 29, close to the present city hall.

The memorial center was founded in 1980 and is accommodated in the pre-war Jewish community's synagogue. The synagogue, together with the attached Rabbinerhaus (House of the Rabbi), which today houses the archives of the city of Essen, was finished after a two-year construction period in 1913. It was originally consecrated as the Neue Synagoge (New Synagogue). Today the building is one of the largest, best preserved and architecturally most impressive testimonies to Jewish culture in pre-war Germany.